Vanilla Honey Butter

Vanilla Honey Butter

As a Dane growing up in Denmark I didn't know the existence of Honey Butter, and I was ok with that. First time I encountered honey butter was at a brunch, where they served it with biscuit and bacon - and OMG it was a party in my mouth. How could I not know of this????

Now I see that you can use this for many things - like cornbread, American pancakes, bagels, and of course biscuits. The addition of vanilla just makes it even better.

Depending on which butter and honey you use, you get different color and texture. I just used what I had in the house, and that was European style butter, and it was a bit more yellow. I used a dark raw honey, and it made my butter yellow. But you can easily end up with a beautiful white butter - there is no wrong color in honey butter.

ingredients:

• 2 vanilla beans, use the seeds scraped from pods

• 225 g (1 cup) butter, salted and room temperature

• 170 g honey

• 1 pinch salt

Directions:

In a Using a stand mixer, beat all ingredients for a 3-5 minutes until smooth and combined. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Custard Rolls

Cinnamon Custard Rolls

I totally forgot about custard cinnamon rolls, until I stumbled upon a picture of them when browsing on Pinterest. Then I decided to try to make my version, with a vanilla custard, using some of my newly purchased plumb vanillas beans. Honestly the custard could be eaten, directly out of the saucepan, maybe with some berries. But it worked perfectly in the cinnamon rolls too. Transporting me back to my childhood. These cinnamon rolls is a great updated version to the traditional cinnamon rolls, making them a bit more fancy.

I would recommend to remove the rolls from the oven a bit earlier than I did, to prevent the custard from getting browned.

Makes 18-20 rolls.

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 50 g live yeast ( 4 teaspoons dry yeast)

• 175 g butter, salted

• 500 ml milk

• 175 g sugar

• 2 teaspoons cardamom

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 800-850 g all-purpose flour

• 1 egg, for egg wash

Vanilla Custard:

• 200 ml milk

• 1 vanilla bean, the seeds (or caviar) from (or use 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract)

• 3 tablespoons sugar

• 2 egg yolks

• 3 teaspoons cornstarch

Cinnamon Remounce:

• 150 g butter, salted and room temperature

• 100 g brown sugar

• 2 tablespoons cinnamon

Chocolate Icing:

• 85 g confectionary (powdered) sugar

• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

• about 2 tablespoons varm water

Directions:

Dough:

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Warm the milk in a saucepan until finger-warm, remove pan from the heat. Melt the butter in the warm milk. Crumble the yeast into the warm milk and stir to dissolve. 

Add the liquid to the dry ingredients, and knead the dough for 3 minutes, to form an elastic dough. 

Let the dough rise for about 60 minutes until doubled in size. 

Cinnamon Remounce:

Mix all the ingredients with a hand mixer, until smooth and creamy, set aside.

Vanilla Custard:

if using a vanilla bean, split the bean and scrape the seeds (caviar) out. Mix the seeds with some of the sugar, this will help separating the seeds, and spread them throughout the custard. Place the empty bean in the milk in a small saucepan, and heat the milk until it is warm, but not boiling. Remove from heat, and let sit to cool down and the bean to infuse the milk with additional vanilla flavor. When milk is room temperature, remove bean from the milk. Whisk egg yolks, sugar, vanilla seeds, and cornstarch into the paste, and add it to the milk. Heat the milk mixture up over medium heat, while whisking until it thickens and starts boiling. Transfer the custard into a shallow bowl, and cover it with plastic wrap. Place the the wrap directly on top of the custard, so it won’t form a skin. Let the custard cool in the fridge until you need it.

Making the Rolls:

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll it to a large rectangle (16x16 inches/40x40 cm).

Spread the filling in a thin layer onto the dough, leaving a thin edge closest to yourself, without filling.

Roll the dough into a large log, pinching edges together to seal. Cut the log into 20-24 slices. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place the slices fairly close together. Cover and leave to rise for another 30 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃) - I used convection when baking these, heat oven to bake 420℉ (215℃) if you don't have a convection oven.

Brush the rolls with egg wash.

With a little spoon make a little dent/well in the middle of the cinnamon roll. Place about a teaspoon of the custard in each well.

Bake the rolls for 10-14 minutes until golden brown. 

Leave them to cool in the pan. 

Chocolate Icing:

Mix sugar ans cocoa with just enough water for it to form a tragic paste.

Frost the cinnamon rolls before serving.

Enjoy!

Danish Pancakes version 2 - Crepes

Danish pancakes.

Danish pancakes are thin like crepes, and is kinda of a dessert. But in my family we occasionally had pancakes for dinner. Maybe not an healthy option, but it was not on a regular basis.

I like my pancakes to be soft like the ones my mom made, but if you want the edges to be a little crispy (the edges mostly) then add a tablespoon regular beer, like a Pilsner. My mom didn’t do that, maybe because we rarely had any beer in the house, so I don’t do that either.

Right now this is my favorite recipe for Danish pancakes. I often make a double portion, and save the extra in the freezer, for an easy treat another day. When freezing fold each pancake in quarters, with parchment paper between each pancake, so you easy can defrost one or two at a time.

Makes 10-12.

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs

• 400 ml milk

• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract

• 4 tablespoons sugar

• 165 g all-purpose flour

• 1 pinch salt

Directions:

Add all the ingredients to the blender and blend it until a smooth batter. If you don’t have a blender, just whisk it by hand, until you get a lump free batter.

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Brush the skillet with a small amount of butter. Using a ladle, pour just enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan, tipping it to coat evenly. Place pan back on heat and cook until batter is set and turned light brown. Flip the crepe with a spatula and cook the other side for additional 30 seconds to 1 minute. Transfer cooked crepe to a plate and continue with the rest of the batter, brushing the pan with more butter as needed and stacking finished crepes on top of each other.

Serve the crepes with sugar, jam, or even ice cream.

Enjoy!

Blueberry & White Chocolate Scones

Blueberry & White Chocolate Scones

I love scones, especially when they are light and fluffy. Maybe it’s wrong, to talk about a light scone, given they contain a lot of butter and cream 😁 But these feel very light.

Makes 8 scones.

Ingredients:

• 300 g all-purpose flour

• 50 g sugar

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

• 60 g butter, salted and room temperature

• 150 g blueberries

• 125 g white chocolate, coarsely chopped, I used Valrhona

• 190 ml heavy whipping cream + extra for brushing

• 1 egg

• coarse sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

Add the dry ingredients and the vanilla in a mixing bowl. Add the butter and mix the butter into the dry ingredients with your hands or the paddle attachment (flat beater), until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Gently mix in the blueberries and chocolate. Place the mixture in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 355℉ (180℃), and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the egg into the heavy whipping cream. Pour the mixture into a well in the cooled dry ingredients. Gently mix the dough with a fork, until just mixed together. Be careful not to overmix. Pour the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Use your finger to gently press the dough into a disc 8-inch (20 cm) in diameter and about 1-inch (2.5 cm) thick. Slice the disc into 8 wedges, and place them on the prepared baking sheet about 1-inch apart. Brush each wedge with cold cream, and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake the scones for 22-25 minutes until they a light golden.

Let the scones cool for about 15 minutes before sinking your teeth into them.

Enjoy!

Easy Sourdough bread

Easy Sourdough bread

My favorite sourdough bread is the Basic Country Bread a la Tartine, but It is time consuming. I have been trying to make a cheat version, with the same good result. This is the closest I have been able to get to it. And I’m very satisfied with the result.

Makes 2 loafs.

Ingredients:

Leaven:

• 3 tablespoons (55 g) sourdough starter

• 150 g water

• 140 g all-purpose flour

• 25 g whole wheat flour

Bread:

• 250 g leaven - save the rest as your new sourdough starter

• 710 g water

• 800 g all-purpose flour

• 200 g whole wheat flour

• 20 g salt

• 50 g water

Directions:

Feed your starter the night before you want to bake.

Day 1 morning

Mix the ingredients in a medium bowl, and let it sit covered on the kitchen counter for 7-8 hours. To test leaven's readiness, drop a spoonful into a bowl of room-temperature water. If it sinks, it is not ready and needs more time to ferment and ripen. If it floats, it's ready to use.

Save your leftover leaven.  It will be your starter/sourdogh for next time you bake. Read here how to feed and keep a sourdough starter.

Mixing the dough - 5pm day 1

Pour the warm water into a the bowl for your stand mixer, adding leaven, stir to disperse. Add flours and mix dough until no dry flour remain. Let rest covered for about 30 minutes. Add salt and remaining 50 grams warm water, and head the dough for about 5-6 minutes. Transfer the dough to a medium plastic container or a glass bowl. Cover with lid or kitchen towel. (I use a dough-rising bucket like this. Let the dough rise for about 2-3 hours.

Shaping the dough - 8-9 pm day 1

Gently pull the dough out of container, onto an un-floured surface, using a dough spatula. Lightly flour the top of the dough and use a bench knife to cut the dough into 2 equal pieces. As you cut the first piece, use the bench knife to flip it over, so the floured side now rest on the work surface. Do the same with the second piece of dough.

While working with the dough you want to incorporate as little flour as possible. Work each piece into a round using scraper and one hand. Tension will build as the dough slightly anchors to the surface as you rotate it. By the end, the dough should have a taut, smooth surface. Dust tops off rounds with flour, cover with a tea towel, and let rest on the work surface for 20 to 30 minutes.

The final shaping:

To form the loaf's, carefully turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface with the floured side down, using the bench knife. Now the underside is facing up. Be careful not to deflate the dough. This final shaping builds up tension inside each loaf, so it holds its form and rises substantially when baked. This is called "oven spring."

Fold the third of the dough closest to you up and over the middle third of the round. Stretch out the dough horizontally to your right and fold this right third over the center. Stretch the dough to your left and fold this third over the previous fold. You are now starting to get a neat package. Stretch out the third of the dough farthest from you and fold this flap toward you, over the previous folds, and anchor it in place with your fingers. Then grab the dough nearest to you and wrap it up and over, while rolling the whole package away from you, that the smooth underside of the loaf now is on the top and all the seams are on the bottom. Let the shaped loaf rest on the counter for a minute. Fold the other loaf the same way.

Line two baskets with clean tea towels generously dusted with rice flour. These bowls will hold the fermenting dough overnight in the fridge to proof. Using the dough scraper, transfer each round to a basket, smooth side down, with seam centered and facing up. Cover the dough loosely with tea towel, and place it in a large ziplock bag - do not close the bag. Let the dough rest in the refrigerator overnight.

Baking the Bread - day 2.

Pull the loves out of the refrigerator, removing the bowls from the ziplock bag. Let the bowls on the kitchen counter while you preheat the oven and dutch/French oven to 500℉ (260℃), with rack in lowest position.

Flip one bread into hot dutch/french oven. Score top twice using a razor blade matfer lame. Cover with lid. Return to oven, and reduce oven temperature to 450℉ (232℃). Bake for 20 minutes.

Carefully remove lid and continue to bake until crust is deep golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes more.

Transfer loaf to a wire rack. It will feel light and sound hollow when tapped. Mix the topping and spread it on top of the hot crust, then let the loaf cool. Letting the bread cool, is the hardest thing.

To bake the second loaf, raise oven temperature to 500℉ (260℃), wipe out dutch/French oven with a dry kitchen towel, and reheat with lid for about 10-20 minutes.

Enjoy!